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March 6, 2020 / barton smock

{ the year our son

~

THE YEAR OUR SON THOUGHT HIS BELLY BUTTON WAS GOING TO EAT HIM

was a fast year, a goldfish

trapped
in a doorknob
kind

of year, our daughter

cut her heels
on the bottom
of a pool

that was there

~

THE YEAR OUR SON THOUGHT HARD ON NOTHING ON A FARM MACHINE

I bought myself a nailgun
telling the people
at church

it was for
a movie, also

a child
in hell
asked

to tie
my shoe, and a neighbor

brought it up
the baby
inside

the baby

~

THE YEAR OUR SON ATE ONLY MEALS PREPARED BY INSOMNIACS

was the same
possible
year
he tried

to kill himself
because I couldn’t
stop him

but back
to the insomniacs

they weren’t

family

~

THE YEAR OUR SON SPOTTED DEER ON THE MOON

it made
some sense
then
to cut
our past
in half

~

THE YEAR OUR SON THOUGHT WE LOVED HIM

lasted longer than most dogs
but there was
this one
stray
we saw
often

it had one
abandoned
healthy
eye
inside of which

our belongings
were small enough
to have

~

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